It's time to see how 2011 was for our favorite couple. Get excited, because they will take their relationship to the next level in this chapter! Once again, I couldn't finish it time and I'm sorry for that, but I'll be updating as we go. I didn't want to mess up my posting scheduling. Also, chapters 8 and 9 will be fully up in about 4 or 5 days.

Reviews are appreciated!

Also, don't repost or use it without permission and don't claim it to be your own.

Chapter 10: 2011 - Proposal

Sora jumped of her bed and ran towards the other bedroom and opened the door in a rush, talking excitedly.
"Piyomon, happy New..."
But she stopped abruptly when she noticed the room was fully empty. Six months later and she was still having a hard time living with the fact her partner was gone. She let her forehead touch the door and tears silently fall from her eyes.

Sora couldn't tell how much time had passed when she felt Yamato's arms around her waist and his chin resting on her right shoulder.
"I thought she was here." She spoke softly and slowly. "She loved going outside every first day of the year to play in the snow and build a snowman. And now I'm feeling bad because I haven't gone downstairs with her in the past two years."
"Hey." Yamato reached for her hand and spun her around, pulling her into a tight hug. "This isn't your fault. You couldn't have predicted this was going to happen. Don't blame yourself over this."
"How can't I? I was a terrible partner for her." Sora wrapped her arms around his neck and burst into tears against his chest.
He though the least thing she wanted at the moment was to be convinced otherwise, so he simply stroked her hair and back tenderly and only mumbled a couple of 'shhh' until she calmed down and eventually stopped crying and sobbing.
"Are you feeling better now?" Yamato asked after she pulled away from him and stared into his eyes.
"I don't think I'll ever feel entirely better again, but I'm so glad you're here with me today."
He simply smiled at her and kept his hands on her hips.
"You seem to be handling it much better than me."
"Now, yes. But you saw me seven months ago."
"We were both a mess. Can't say I'm much different from then."
"You are, you just don't give yourself enough credit."
"That's probably it." Sora sighed and tried to fully pull away from him, but he kept his hands where they were.
"Why don't we go back to bed? It's a little warmer there."
"I don't know. I'm already adjusted to this temperature. I'll probably go watch some TV, but you can go back."
"A movie?"
"That sounds good to me."
"I'll go get the blankets."
"I'll make some popcorn."

Sora placed the bowl full of popcorn over the table and Yamato rested his head on her chest as he threw the blanket over them.
"Is this enough?"
"I think so. The heat is on, so it isn't that cold in here."
"Alright. So what are we watching?"
"Probably one of these Christmas movies that's on TV."
"That sounds cool."
"We don't need to pay attention to everything, you know?" She started stroking his forearm softly.
"Oh yeah?" Yamato raised his eyebrows and glanced at her through the corner of his eyes. "And what would we be doing?"
"Something more interesting, I guess." She leaned over and kissed him passionately.

Sora slowly woke up about two or three hours later with the loud sound of the TV. She struggled to pick up the remote control because Yamato was sleeping heavily and peacefully in her arms. She stared at him for a while and began to wish they were already engaged and living together. And then it hit her.
She realized she wanted that. She wanted to arrive home and see him every night. She wanted them to go out and not having to go separate ways sometimes. And Sora knew there was only one solution for it then. 03/07 In her mind, it felt perfect and she realized she was ready to take that step. She hoped so was he.

.

Sora went to a jewelry store that Saturday morning hoping to find a perfect engagement ring. She wanted to invite Mimi to come along, but she didn't want to risk Yamato accidentally finding out and ruining her surprise. So she called Koushiro and Hikari; she knew her secret would be safe with them.
"Thanks for coming and helping me out with this."
"You're welcome. I can't believe you're going to propose to Yamato."
"I will." She gave a warm and wide smile. "I just don't know how yet. I want it to be something memorable, you know?"
"Why don't you invite him for a romantic dinner and propose?"
"That's a good idea, but I want to do something different. Something unique."
"There are quite some creative proposal ideas on the internet, if you're interested."
"I'll definitely look for them later. Can you help me find a good engagement ring?"
"Yes, of course."

"What do you think of this one?" Sora grabbed the third ring the saleswoman showed her.
"That one's really pretty." Koushiro took a closer look to it.
"Yeah, I think that's the most beautiful one so far."
"I think so too." She turned to the woman again. "I'm taking this one. A pair."
"Alright."
"Thank you."

"So you and Yamato are really taking another step in your relationship, huh?" Koushiro asked before drinking a sip from his strawberry milkshake.
"We really are. I have to admit it gives me chills though."
"I bet it does."
"I need to confess I envy you for taking the initiative to do it. I don't think I would be able to. The idea freaks me out."
"That pretty much sums up how I feel right now." Sora ate a bite of her hamburger. "So, have you two been dating?"
"Not at the moment." Hikari replied and her cheeks turned bright red.
"You're blushing. You like someone!"
"No, I don't."
"Come on, what's his name?"
"His name is Katsuo." Her cheeks blushed even more.
"It's a pretty name."
"You don't have to be embarrassed by it, Hikari." Sora assured her. "Having a boyfriend or a girlfriend is something normal. We all will probably go through that at some point."
"Yes, I know. I'll try to be less embarrassed."
"Great. So how did you two meet?"
"We met by accident. Actually, not exactly. He's a year ahead me in college and is also a tutor. I was having some doubts in Teaching Techniques and turned to him for help. We quickly became friends, but I had a crush on him since then. I'm not sure about him though, I never asked."
"The classic cliché of being classmates, or almost. I relate to that." Sora smiled, remembering the times she and Yamato used to be in the same class.
"I'm sure you do."
"So, have you two gone out already?"
"Only once. He took me to this coffee-shop that had a 80's movie vibe. It was quite nice."
"When was it?"
"Last week. He's been walking me home ever since."
"He's definitely interested in you." Sora could barely hide her smile for her friend. "He wouldn't do that if he wasn't."
"Is that so?" Koushiro asked surprised. "Because I've been doing the same and am absolutely sure I'm not interested in my friend."
"Well, it's not mandatory, but it could be a sign. It was for me and Yamato, at least."
"A lot of things were signs for you two."
"That's true. I miss that time. So Koushiro, who is this friend of yours?"
Koushiro punched his throat with his fist to help with his sudden choke. "What?"
"This friend you've been walking home. Who's she, or he?"
"She. She's just a friend of a friend actually. She hangs out with us quite often, so she became a friend too."
"And you're not interested in her at all?"
"No. I mean, she's pretty and all, but just a friend."
"Nothing that can't be changed with time, I believe." Sora couldn't help but laugh. "So it looks like me, you and Mimi are pretty much taken, huh?"
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm taken because I've only gone out with him once."
"That doesn't mean there won't be other ones."
"You're right. But we haven't even kissed yet."
"Yet? So you are waiting for a kiss." Sora drank some of her ice tea.
"Maybe." Hikari replied mysteriously and ate some French fries."
"Not everyone gets a first kiss on their first date and it's okay."
"You did."
"Actually, it happened a little before that."
"What?!" Both Koushiro and Hikari said at the same time.
"We had already kissed when we had our first date. With the Digimon appearing in many places on Earth, we agreed to postpone it until everything was over. But we had our first kiss on Christmas' Eve."
"Really? I didn't know that."
"Well, it's not something we go around telling everyone about. It's something personal. Besides, Yamato had a lot of heated female fans and things could get ugly if it leaked and the entire school found out."
"That could be a problem, but things worked out in the end."
"That's true." Sora looked at her friends. "Thank you so much for coming here with me today. It meant a lot to me."
"You're welcome, Sora. We can't wait to see you proposing to Yamato."
"And you can count on us with helping you do it."

.

Sora rubbed her hands together to keep them warm, though she was wearing gloves. She unlocked the door of Yamato's apartment in a hurry and walked in. "Why does it have to be so cold tonight? It was perfect today. Baby, where are you?"
"In the bathroom." His voice echoed in the hall.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?"
"Not really." Yamato looked at her as he dried his hair with a towel. "Why?"
"Now you do. We're going to the movies."
"Oh yeah? What are we watching?"
"It's a surprise. You'll find out when we get there."
"So is this a surprise Valentine's Day?" He asked with a smirk.
"That's right." Sora smiled widely. "I was thinking maybe you could use that black turtleneck sweater."
"Is it too cold outside?"
"It's freezing. I don't know how I survived coming here."
"So it isn't that cold really." Yamato teased her.
"I'm serious, it is."
"Okay. I'll wear it." He walked towards his bedroom and she followed him closely. "So what time is the movie?"
"In about one hour." She sat on his bed and stared at his back. "Do you think you can get ready in say, thirty minutes?"
"Are you insinuating I take too long to get ready?"
"No." She lied and looked away when he glanced at her over his shoulder. "Maybe."
"That's probably because you get ready faster than women in general. I don't think I take that long, though."
"Well, not anymore. You used to take way longer when you were a teenager."
"Yes, because my hair demanded a lot of time to turn out the way I wanted and liked."
"And it doesn't now?"
"Let's just say this style is much versatile. Anything I do with it looks good."
"I can't really argue with that."
"Do you want to drive this time?"
"What?" Sora shook her head and looked at him puzzled.
"I asked if you wanted to drive to the mall."
"Sure, why not?"

"That was really good." Yamato said after Sora turned off the car.
"You think so? That might be my cue to buy a car."
"I don't understand why you haven't yet. It will be great for you."
"Yeah. I was saving some money, but now I will definitely consider it."
"Were you planning to buy something?"
"No, not exactly." She felt angry at herself for talking a little more than she supposed to. "I just wanted to have some extra amount for emergency."
"It's good to be cautious when it comes to money."
"That's true." Sora smiled warmly. "So shall we go?"
"Sure."

"So, what do you want to eat?" Sora asked when they walked into the restaurants sections of the mall. "Do you want a regular meal or go for popcorn for the movie? My treat."
"I don't know. I think I'd rather have a real meal and then the popcorn." Yamato couldn't help but smile. "I'm just joking. But you don't have to pay for everything. We can share like we always do."
"That's okay, I want to pay this time."
"Is there a special occasion for this?"
"Not really. I just want to."
"Alright."
"So what do you want? I'll let you pick."
"Whatever you'll have is fine to me." He rolled his eyes at her expression. "Fine, I'll go for Italian tonight."
"Great."
"What about you?"
"I was going for our cuisine, but now I feel like eating Italian too."
"And you just judged me for going for what you wanted."
"But I'm the one who's paying, so…" Sora teased.
"Is that your excuse for this?"
"That's right."
"By the way, I find it amusing that you haven't even realized you let it slip that we're going to see a movie."
"Oh no." She covered her face with her hands. "I can't believe I told you after keeping it a secret for so long."
"It's okay, I can pretend to be surprised."
"Thanks, but it won't be the same now."
"I'm sorry, baby."
"That's alright."

"I don't think I can eat popcorn after this amount of food."
"I believe I still have some space left."
"Geez, Yamato, do you have a black hole in your stomach?"
"I suppose you can say that." Yamato didn't bother holding his laughter. "I just can't watch a movie without popcorn."
"And is it worth getting sick for eating too much?"
"I won't get sick, Sora. We still have…" He checked his watch. "Half an hour before the movie, so it should be fine."
"If you say so."
"It will, trust me." He motioned to stood up. "Do you want to walk around to pass the time?"
"Eh, I'd rather stay here a little longer, if that's okay."
"Sure, it's okay to me. So what do you want to do now?"
"There is this thing I've been meaning to do." Sora sat down beside him and slid her hand up to the back of his neck, pulling his head in her direction and kissing him passionately and slowly.
"I don't know about you, but I think only one isn't enough. We need another one."
"I completely agree with you." She smiled before the short distance between them was closed again.

They stopped at a fast-food booth to buy two cups of milkshake, chocolate and vanilla, before heading to the cinema. They got in the line for the popcorn booth and looked up at the panel with the prices.
"I'm confused. Didn't you say that you couldn't eat anything else tonight without getting sick?" Yamato watched Sora drink some of her chocolate milkshake.
"I did. But this…" She pointed at the cup in her hand. "Is to help everything go down."
"That makes sense." He nodded. "So which size do you want?"
"I think a bucket is okay."
"A bucket? That's a whole lot of popcorn."
"I know. Maybe it's little too much. Is the medium size enough?"
"I think so."
"Okay, I'm going to buy it. Can you hold this for me?"
"I can pay for it."
"It's okay, I got this." She gave him a soft smile. "I'll be right back. And don't drink all of your milkshake, I want some."
"But you have yours."
"True, but mine is chocolate."
"You should have thought about it before buying this flavor."
"But if we switch, you'll get to have this one. I know you love chocolate milkshake too."
"I'll think about it."
"Oh come on, baby." Sora pleaded. "It doesn't even have to be half a cup, just a small amount. Please?"
"Can we talk about it again when we get to the movie room?" Yamato tried his best not to look into her eyes, but failed miserably. "Fine, we can switch later."
"Thank you." She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek before making her order. "You're the best."
"I hate how you can be really persuasive sometimes."
"I love you too." She teased, picking their popcorn bag up from the counter.

"Did I ever tell you your eyes really stand out with these glasses? I mean, they stand out even more, because they already do themselves."
"Where did that that came from?"
"Excuse me?"
"Is this one of your pick-up lines?" Yamato teased, having so much fun with the situation.
"What? How is that even a pick-up line?"
"It's used a lot in dance clubs and places like that."
"Wait, how did you know they use this line in these places?"
"Takeru tells me about it when he goes to one of them and needs to talk to someone about the girls he meets there."
"He's going to dance clubs on his own now?"
"With his friends from college. Mom says they seem nice."
"So she's seen them."
"Yeah, and they already slept there once or twice after that. She's much less concerned now."
"That's a relief."
"So you were worried about him too?"
"Of course." Sora looked at him. "He's like a younger brother to me, so that's reason enough for me to worry about him even more. I mean, I know he can take care of himself, but…"
"I can't say I don't know how you feel because I do." Yamato paused. "But like you said, he can take care of himself."
"Yeah."
"Can we go back to discussing your pick-up line?"
"Well, it wasn't a pick-up line to begin with."
"I'm pretty sure it was."
"No." She insisted.
"You were definitely hitting on me."
"I… okay, that I might have been."
"Might have?" He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Well, I'm not going to be blatantly obvious from the start. There's gotta be some mystery too."
"Mystery huh?"
"Does that make you intrigued?" Sora ran her hands through his arms.
"Very."
"Hmmm, interesting." She gave a smile when she noticed him swallowing hard due to her staying only a few millimeters away from his mouth. "Then my tactic worked."
She went back to her previous position and stared into his eyes, trying to figure out what he thought of everything that had just happened.
"That was it?" Yamato managed to ask after he recovered his breath and self-control.
"I didn't think I was supposed to go any further."
"So you get to flirt with me and not go all the way through?"
"Oh." She smiled mischievously. "So that's what it's about. You were waiting for more."
"Maybe a kiss. We can't really go beyond that right now." He gave an awkward laugh and looked around.
"You know that was supposed to be where you took an action, right? A response to my flirt."
"I suppose I was too caught up with the whole thing to even think about reacting."
"I'm curious to know if it was because of me or you're like this in general." She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked right into his blue eyes.
"I'm pretty sure it was because of you." He ran his hands up and down her back.
"I might as well go to the end, huh? Can't leave a potential love interest waiting." Sora reached up for his ear and whispered seductively.
"Most definitely not."
Their lips found their way to each other seconds later, and everything around them seemed to disappear.

.

Yamato wouldn't admit it openly, but he was happy the weather was getting warmer as March came along. He was also happy for not having to use so many blankets and heavy clothes anymore. But the best thing was seeing Sora overly excited about it. He was so used to seeing her every weekend that he felt weird when they didn't, which was the case in that one.

.

Sora went to her mother's apartment near noon to have lunch with her. She was feeling nervous with the fact she was going to tell Toshiko she planned on proposing to Yamato. She was sure her mother was going to complain about her being the one to propose, instead of the other way around. So she went all the way getting ready mentally for that moment.
"Sora!" Toshiko answered to the door more excitedly than Sora was expecting, and the girl began to wonder maybe she was overthinking about the situation.
"Hey, mom!"
"I'm so happy to see you!" She hugged Sora tight. "It's been a while."
"I know. Things have been a little crazy at work and I feel worn out on the weekend. I'm sorry."
"That's okay. Come in." She stepped aside for the daughter to come inside. "Lunch will be ready in five minutes."
"Great." Sora smiled briefly before biting her lower lip. She thought it would be better to get it over with as soon as possible. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you."
"Alright. Is it something good?"
"It is. At least I think so. I'm not really sure about you, though."
"You're scaring me, Sora. Are you sure everything's okay?"
"I'm sorry. Yeah, everything's fine. I just don't know how to tell you."
"You should just say it. You know I don't really like when people use metaphors because they don't want to say it right away."
"I'm going to propose to Yamato."
"What?"
"That's what you heard. I'm going to propose to Yamato."
"I heard it, but why? You don't think he's gonna propose to you?"
"We haven't really discussed that. So I guess no, I don't think he will. If he is, he's hiding it very well."
"Maybe you should wait and see if he's going to."
"Mom, his focus right now is on his training to become an astronaut. It's taking a lot of his time. Besides, it's not like we're going to get married right away. I just feel like I'm ready to take this next step."
"Well, have you talked about it to him?"
"No. I want it to be a surprise."
"What if he says no?"
"He wouldn't, would he?" Sora looked at Toshiko a little apprehensively. "You think he could?"
"I don't know, you're the one dating him."
"I don't think he would. Worst case scenario, he'll just say we should talk about it later." She put her hair behind her ear. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I'm determined to do it."
"Your father proposed to me."
"Oh God, here we go." The red haired woman took a deep breath. "Mom, it doesn't really bother me if I'm be the one to propose and I know it doesn't bother Yamato either. This isn't a rule. What matters is that we love each other and want to be together."
"Okay then." Toshiko gave in. Nothing I say here is going to make you change your mind, is it?"
"Not at all." Sora confirmed. "I'm sorry I brought it up like this and most likely ruined our lunch together, but I wanted to let you know beforehand."
"I appreciate it. When are you going to do it?"
"I'm not sure yet. I want it to be something memorable, so I'm planning it very carefully."
"Do you want some help with it?"
"Sure. At the moment, I'm looking for some ideas and accepting suggestions. So if you have any."
"How about a romantic dinner?"
"I think that's overrated. I prefer doing something unusual. It doesn't have to be now though. If you think of something cool, let me know."
"Alright. I will. Let's eat?"

Sora made her way back to her apartment later that day thinking about everything she had talked about and started to question if she was actually right in being the one to propose. She didn't even know whether he was ready for it or not. As much as she wanted to do it, she didn't want to put him in an awkward position in front of their families and friends. Sighing, she grabbed her phone and dialed Koushiro's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me. Can you talk?"
"Sure. What happened?"
"I'm thinking it's probably not a good idea anymore."
"What are talking about, Sora?"
"You know…" Sora looked around her to see if there wasn't anyone she or Yamato possibly knew nearby. "The ring."
"Oh." Koushiro finally understood what she meant. "Why do you think that?"
"I realized his reaction might not be the one I expect or maybe I'm rushing into things. Maybe he doesn't want to get married right now or at all."
"He told you that?"
"No, but it can still happen. I don't know what to do, I already bought the rings."
"Calm down, Sora. You were so sure about it before."
"I know, I know." She said frustrated. "But I went to see my mother and she started asking all these questions and…"
"If you're this unsure, why don't you try to find out what his opinions about it are. Honestly, I don't think he would be angry or upset if you propose."
"I don't either, but he might be planning it too."
"One more reason why you should try to find out if he's up to something."
"He might pick up something and all my plan can go to waste."
"It's a risk you're gonna have to take."